15th European Shin-Buddhist Conference May peace and tranquility

15th European Shin-Buddhist Conference
May peace and tranquility prevail throughout the world
26-29 August 2008 - Bad Reichenhall, Germany
locations: Hotel Golden Tulip (conference room) & Shin Do (optional services)
Schedule Part I - 12th European Branch Conference of the International
Association of Shin Buddhist Studies (IASBS)
Tuesday August 26, 2008 (IASBS)
08h30 Registration
09h30 Opening messages
Presentations - Chair Person: Ilona Evers
1 Thomas Moser, Rev. - May peace and tranquility prevail throughout the world:
introduction
2 Hoyu Ishida - May Peace Prevail on Earth!
3 Esho Sasaki - "A reflection on "May Peace and tranquility prevail throughout
the world" : Shinrans letters and his Buddhist spirit"
4 Tomomasa Teramoto - Conflict and Diversity of Religions - Christian Theology
of Religion(s) and Buddhist View of Religion(s)
12h00 Lunch
13h30 (optional) Shinshu workshop, German/English synthesis about presentations
14h00 Presentations - Chair Person: Taira Sato
5 Krech Gregg - Naikan: Self-Reflection and the Path of Pure Land Buddhism
6 Hidetsugu Takayama - Otani Kozui and Europe
7 Eiken Kobai - Establishing Shinjin: the Premise of Peace and Tranquility
8 Angela Andrade - Learning with Translation of Buddhist Texts
17h00 evening service Sambutsuge - Jérôme Ducor
Wednesday August 27, 2008 (IASBS)
08h30 morning service Juseige - Diane Van Parijs
09h30 Presentations - Chair Person: Kurt Krammer
9 Toshikazu Arai - Non-violence as the Universal Principle for Creating Peace
10 Jackson Cheng - Yin Kwan’s Pure Land Thought with His Practice
11 Nobuyuki Kashiwahara - Covered with the light of Amida
12 Chao Ti Wu - Tan-Luan's Pure Land Thought and Practice
12h00 Lunch
13h30 (optional) Shinshu workshop, German/English synthesis about presentations
14h00 13 Discussion session 1 - European shin followers
Fons Martens - Building a sangha: professionalizing tips
16h15 14 Closing session: Kenneth Mullen
17h00 end
17h30 memorial service for Rev. Chiba (former IABC Chairperson)
and Richard Hastreiter (Shin Do)
Part II - Conference of European Shinshu Communities
Thursday August 28, 2008 (ESC)
08h30 Registration -or- morning service junirai - Marie Angela Andreda
09h30 Opening session
Presentations - Chair Person: Adrian Cirlea
15 Kenneth Mullen - Shinjin: Buddhism and Addiction
16 David Brazier - Existence as Poetry
17 Eisho Nasu - Fluidity of Shinjin: Personal Reflections on Ways of Talking about
Shinjin for Contemporary Buddhist Living
18 Jan Marc Nottelmann-Feil - Some reflections on the term “peace”
12h00 Lunch
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13h30 (optional) Shinshu workshop, German/English synthesis about presentations
14h00 Presentations - Chair Person: Frank Kobs
19 Adrian Cirlea - Peace of shinjin
20 Caroline Brazier - Writing About Guilt
16h00 21 Kikyoshiki Ceremony
18h00 end
Friday August 29, 2008 (ESC)
08h30 morning service Sambutsuge - Adrian Cirlea
09h30 Presentations - Chair Person: David Brazier
22 Ilona Evers - The peace within
23 Sandor Kosa-Kiss - Peace in the mind, peace in the world
24 Taira Sato - The Notion of Buddha-nature in Shin Buddhism
25 Frank Kobs - The day Amida meet me or better hit me!
12h00 Lunch with Shinmonsama
13h30 (optional) Shinshu workshop, German/English synthesis about presentations
14h00 26 Discussion session 2 - European shin followers
Planning on further networking of European Sangha's
16h15 27 Thomas Moser, Rev. - May peace and tranquility prevail throughout the world:
conclusion
16h45 Closing session: Hoyu Ishida
Part III - Guided tour in Bad Reichenhall/Salzburg (optional)
Saturday August 30, 2008
10h00 start guided tour Bad Reichenhall & Salzburg
12h30 End of guided tour
Lunch at leisure, in Salzburg
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Report
Over the days of the conference, many topics were presented and discussed. Please, let us take
some passages from each presentation that - according to our humble opinion - touched us most as
being important enough to remember. We are convinced that the selection of these passages is
personally colored, and at the same time that you will accept it as yet another contribution in
spreading the Dharma.
Part I - 12th European Branch Conference of the International Association of Shin
Buddhist Studies (IASBS)
Tuesday August 26, 2008 (IASBS) - morning
The Opening session started at 9:30 by the presentation of the Shinmon Kojun Ohtani and
Shinourakatasama Lady Ruzumi, where Jérôme Ducor read a message from Kenneth Tanaka,
IASBS President, who could not attend due to his other commitments. Following the Opening
session, the first presentation session was started by Ilona Evers, Chairperson.
Thomas Moser explained the Theme of this 15th Conference by his introductory presentation May
peace and tranquility prevail throughout the world!
The pure clear water that runs downs a natural spring, searches its way, mingles with our tears of pain and
tears of joy and becomes a river and goes down the long way to the sea where clouds carry it back to the
mountains, me not separated from them and them not separated from me, part of the unlimited circle of
life.
Hoyu Ishida’s presentation with the title May Peace Prevail on Earth! - Shinran’s Letter to
Shōshin explained in detail the contents of this Letter. Amongst other interesting views, he
stressed:
Religious values lie in the core of the person who seeks freedom and liberation from the bondage of
dukkha or suffering, and it should be very subjective and particular. Through a particular path, one comes
to realize a universal norm of religion. Exclusiveness or exclusion of others is the issue that we have to
conquer especially in this confused world of our today.
Shinran’s wish “May there be peace in the world, and may the Buddha’s teachings spread” is particular in
terms of “holding the nembutsu in their hearts” and universal in terms of the wish for world peace.
The third presentation also stressed specifically Shinran’s viewpoint: A reflection on “May Peace
and tranquility prevail throughout the world”: Shinrans letters and his Buddhist spirit, by Esho
Sasaki. He quoted Shitoku Adriaan Peel, answering the question:
“Becoming a Buddhist priest, how do you consider about the peace of the present confused world? Peel
spontaneously answered, “I believe the peace of the world is possible to be realized: when the people in the
world recognize that our own beings are defiled with evil passions, then the peace of the world will be
naturally be realized.”
Tomomasa Teramoto’s Conflict and Diversity of Religions - Christian Theology of Religion(s) and
Buddhist View of Religion(s) contained a call for Buddhism to respond with its own inter-religious
theology, based upon Jan van Bragt lectures of Theology of Religions at the Interreligious Studies
in Japan Program:
“Theology of Religions cannot simply be a ‘Christian Theology’. It must be a ‘theology in the presence of
the others’, together with the others. It must not be a theology by Christians (subject) about the others
(object), but, ideally, a theology by us all about us all.”
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Tuesday August 26, 2008 (IASBS) - afternoon
Chair Person for these presentations was Taira Sato.
Krech Gregg opened the afternoon sessions with Naikan: Self-Reflection and the Path of Pure
Land Buddhism. He stressed i.e. the impermanence and the interconnectedness of each and
everybody, and the notion of things being entrusted to one. Naikan is a Japanese word which
means “inside looking” but a more poetic translation is “seeing oneself with the mind’s eye. Let’s
quote from Taitetsu Unno:
“In between birth and death everything I have is a gift - my body, the clothes I wear, the knowledge I have,
family and friends, hobbies I enjoy, the house I live in, and so on. They are all ‘mine’, but only as things
temporarily entrusted to me during my sojourn on earth.”
Next came a very original presentation by Hidetsugu Takayama about a colorful Monshu: Otani
Kozui and Europe. The interplay between Japan and Europe in connection with Jodoshinshu ideas
came clearly to the foreground. Can we relate this to the current Core Programs from Hongwanji?
For three years Kozui stayed in this place (London). During this time, he mainly investigated the
relationship between religion and politics. He also observed social welfare programs. (…) Kozui even
visited Turkey to study Islam; to learn about the situation of “old Christianity he visited Rome,…
Eiken Kobai again returns to the theme on how peace may spread with Establishing Shinjin: the
Premise of Peace and Tranquility by expounding on hymn 66 of Hymns of the Dharma-Ages:
No less than people of shinjin,
Practicers of doubt who cling to self-power should
Awaken to the benevolence of Amida’s great compassion
And endeavour in saying the nembutsu.
Maybe we can add “then” between “And” and “endeavour”: And then endeavour in saying the
nembutsu? That way we can probably discover the premise…
In Learning with Translation of Buddhist Texts Angela Andrade explained us some interesting
ideas about the difficulties one can have when translating between one culture and the other. It will
certainly take some generations before we can agree upon several western terms…
Each of the three most well known methods, namely neologism, borrowing and concept matching show
efforts either to keep in line with the tradition or, conversely, to move toward what is new. (…) As Kaneko
Daiei once quoted in his dialogue with D.T. Suzuki and Soga Ryojin, “When you’ve truly grasped
something, you’re free to express it in any way you like.”
At 17h00 Jérôme Ducor conducted the evening service with the chanting of Sambutsuge.
Wednesday August 27, 2008 (IASBS) - morning
At 08h30 Diane Van Parijs conducted the morning service with the chanting of Juseige. During the
next days we chanted Ondokusan a few times… So nice!
Kurt Krammer chaired the presentations of this morning session.
Toshikazu Arai opened with Non-violence as the Universal Principle for Creating Peace. He used
several examples from i.e. Gandhi (“non-violence is for those who have strong determination to
achieve a goal even at the risk of severe suffering and at the cost of their own lives”), Ambedkar,
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Martin Luther King and, of course, Sakyamuni Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 5: “Hate is not
overcome by hate; by Love (Metta) alone is hate appeased. This is an eternal law”).
For the world to be truly peaceful, every person must be “at peace” with himself as will with the outside
world. From this standpoint it can be said that perfect peace can never be achieved in this human world,
and that peace is a process, rather than a static condition, in which people are making conscious efforts to
eliminate elements that might lead to enmity and violent conflict.
In his presentation Yin Kwan’s Pure Land Thought with His Practice, Jackson Cheng emphasized
the fundamental contribution of this master to the Pure Land School in China. Yin Kwan not only
made a synthesis of Buddhism and Confucianism, but also criticized the influence of Neo-
Confucianism.
(…) the Buddha says, “They should comprehend very carefully the essence through their experiences,
rather than blindly believe the heresy, tradition, legend, book, guess, inference or instructor.” (…) instead,
we have to practice Buddhism in the midst of current events and actual people. This is the era spirit of the
Pure Land conception.
Nobuyuki Kashiwahara explained in his presentation Covered with the Light of Amida by means of
several excerpts of Shinran Shonins works how the apparent contradiction in “covered with light”
can be interpreted. He used the different meanings of the Japanese kanji and their corresponding
translations to explain that we as Buddhists can be optimists, because we are “covered with the
Light of Amida”. He used concepts like:
Though the light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists, beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness,
not dark.
The last Buddha was name Light that Surpasses the Sun and the Moon.
Chao Ti Wu concluded the morning session with Tan-Luan's Pure Land Thought and Practice. She
used several concrete examples from the Master stressing the meaning of faith (not blind faith, but
reasoned faith) with the first sentence of a hymn in Avatamsaka Sutra: Faith is the source of the path.
Faith is the mother of merit and virtue. Tan-Luan adopted Nāgārjuna’s distinction between the difficult
and easy practice. The “easy-way” appealed to the help of Amitabha Buddha; it can be likened to riding a boat
to cross the ocean, but he differs with Nagarjuna in such that: N g rjuna believed that the easy-way
means you have to pay respect in mind, and you have to chant the name of the Buddhas from the ten quarters,
while Tan-Luan advocated only the chanting of Amita Buddha’s name is called the easy-way.
Wednesday August 27, 2008 (IASBS) - afternoon
The afternoon started with the first Discussion session for European shin followers. Fons Martens
presented Building a sangha: professionalizing tips. Using the Report of Activities 2000-2007 of
the Belgian jikōji-sangha, illustrated with explanatory notes, the session brought us tips on how to
enlarge the likelihood that a prospect turns into a full fledged sangha member. Via a Global Frame
we stepped through several activity groups where sangha members can engaged themselves in, and
we received several tips for each group to make the sangha still more professionalized. Let us select
a few tips from the list:
Take care of your temple day by day
Create house style
Use a global strategy & Check activities against this strategy
Stimulate contributions from all members
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During the closing session for the IASBS part of the 15th ESC, Kenneth Mullen summarized the
presentations. And we ended with a memorial service for Rev. Chiba (former IABC Chairperson)
and Richard Hastreiter (Shin Do): as doshi functioned Esho Sasaki, Thomas Moser and Fons
Martens; we chanted Sambujo, Amidakyo (with settaku) and read a short memorial text.
Part II - Conference of European Shinshu Communities
Thursday August 28, 2008 (ESC) - morning
The Opening session of the ESC15 was started at 9:30 by the presentation of the Shinmonsama by
Nobuaki Ryu, Director of Chikushi-jogakuen Educational Organization. Thereafter Shinmonsama
Kojun Ohtani gave an address to the participants, followed by a message by Esho Sasaki, IABC
Chairperson.
At 08h30 Marie Angela Andreda conducted the morning service with the chanting of junirai.
Adrian Cirlea chaired the presentations of this morning session.
In Shinjin: Buddhism and Addiction Kenneth Mullen detailed the approach to addiction from
within different Buddhist Schools (Tibetan, Zen and Shin. In the mandala about the Pratitya
Samutpada, he pointed out: We move within this circle to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. (…) A very
important point to note is that ignorance is the root cause of this cycle. So it is this that must be eradicated. He
then informed us that - under influence from mostly Zen - recently a mixture of therapies are
becoming prevalent, known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Interestingly enough
he quoted Davies: “Paradoxically, by believing that the power of a higher being is the only thing that can help
them in their helplessness, they cease to be helpless, because believe in an external higher power changes
internal motivation.”
We were moved by very nice personal impressions given by David Brazier in his talk Existence as
Poetry. Let us just take a few:
Mourners admire the medals
and the faded commendation letter,
but only the son knows
Dad never got over the war.
Sky jumping
there’s no turning back
whether the ‘chute opens or not.
So, before you open your heart to Amida,
beware!
In his presentation Fluidity of Shinjin: Personal Reflections on Ways of Talking about Shinjin for
Contemporary Buddhist Living Eisho Nasu talked about Shinjin as Water as seen by Shinran,
Rennyo and by Contemporary Expressions.
Shinran says that the working of Other Power can reach ordinary beings’ mind as shinjin naturally
because shinjin is not only “diamondlike,” but also shinjin is fluid like “water” that naturally flows
into the mind of ordinary beings. Rennyo says it is hard to accept shinjin with the mind filled with
blind passions. But by diligently exposing oneself to the flow of Dharma, slowly but naturally
shinjin will reach the mind’s fountainhead as water can bore a hole in a stone.
Jan Marc Nottelmann-Feil gave us Some reflections on the term “peace”. He toke a dive in the
deeper meanings of external peace (as the opposite of war or external conflict) and internal peace
(peace of the heart or as the opposite of inner conflict). He referred to the Japanese words annon
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and heiwa, indicating the difference when we speak of peace talks: we never use annon no talks, but
instead heiwa no talks…
He indicated that Shinran used annon threefold: referring to freedom from conflicts within
interpersonal relations, to rich harvests and to peace in later life (within the Pure Land), and he
talked about Shotoku Taishi, the Prince with the Eight Ears, a mediator for preventing conflicts,
and thus for bringing annon.
Thursday August 28, 2008 (ESC) - afternoon
The two presentations in the afternoon were chaired by Frank Kobs.
Adrian Cirlea expounded the meaning of Peace of shinjin within his personal life and brought as a
personal interpretation out of his own understanding. Again he stressed the importance of: How
can outside peace exist without inner peace? And of the peace of mind coming from entrusting to
Amida: “All right if I live, all right if I die.” He quoted Master Zuiken:
At most, man can do only one thing
In his life
And that is to acquire shinjin.
In her paper Writing About Guilt: bombu nature for Europeans Caroline Brazier explained from a
personal view how writing is a creative journey, how she experienced that most of the Europeans
are converts (coming from other religions) and thus are often confronted with the notions of guilt
and even guilt about being guilty… During the presentation itself she seemed to freewheel, based
on the previous presentations, and she managed to create a nice scheme fitting into her thoughts of
the notions of guilt.
At 15:00 we kind of rebuild the conference room into a nice temple space, preparing for the
Kikyoshiki Ceremony, lead by Shinmonsama. Sammi Kiribayashi from Hongwanji International
Center was so kind to prepare all twelve candidates and to explain to all of us how this ceremony
would be conducted. This event was for so many of us the most intense of the whole conference!
We will certainly take home the nice warm feelings of this moment where our sangha once again
grew a bit stronger!
Friday August 29, 2008 (ESC) - morning
The morning service with the chanting Sambutsuge was conducted by Adrian Cirlea, while David
Brazier was the chair person for the remaining four presentations.
Ilona Evers started that day with her paper The peace within: another rather personal
interpretation, nicely illustrated with concrete examples from the daily life. The question Is it
actually possible to live with a peaceful mind in a society full of problems, resentments of fights? immediately
set the atmosphere of her talk.
No reason to complain, no reason to struggle, every situation gives me the chance to make the best out of
it and to learn as much as possible. I am a complex interweaving of good and evil, of joy and suffering and
of the Nembutsu which penetrates everything that is existing.
Peace in the mind, peace in the world was the title of Sandor Kosa-Kiss’ very original and colorful
presentation - or should we say (with respect!) a real movie script? It must have taken him several
weeks to prepare these sceneries of an internal journey connected with the outside world. Notions
of mind, world, self, non-becoming, bodhisattva, compassion, Amida,… were painted as meaningful
images.
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I was that helpless green lizard for whom this sudden gift of life, this reprieve, this near-death, the renewed
beating of its heart, breathing the air again, was as much a mystery as was the drowning - perhaps an even
greater, more profound mystery…
Taira Sato’s presented The Notion of Buddha-nature in Shin Buddhism. He explained that the
notion of Buddha-nature is hidden by our blind passions and selfish attachments, and that the
name “Ajātasatru” belongs to all those who have not been awakened to the incomparably perfect
Supreme Enlightenment.
The concept of tath gatagarbha means not only that all sentient beings carry “unborn children of
Tathagata” or “the womb that gives birth to the Buddha” but also that the Tathagata himself possesses the
womb that contains all sentient beings. Although the former meaning is always emphasized, we often fail
to notice the latter.
Frank Kobs had the honor to present the last paper of this 15th European Shin-Buddhist
Conference: The day Amida meet me or better hit me! - and he took that honor with glance! Again
this was a very personal story about how he encountered the Buddha in his daily life… a moment he
vividly recalled and painted for our eyes:
It was as if the Buddha smiled at me and I could not help but to smile as well.
“Why worry about it, why think so much? It’s all there and already done - keep on going and leave the rest
to me.”
The Shimada-group was so kind to lead us at the chanting of Shinshu-shuka.
At noon, we were all invited for a lunch with Shinmonsama and Shinourakatasama.
Friday August 29, 2008 (ESC) - afternoon
During the Discussion session 2 for European shin followers we had a round (square) table, not
about the Planning on further networking of European Sangha's, but about what we experienced
during this 15th European Shin-Buddhist Conference. This very lively discussion session was
colored with personal impressions, positive comments and nice suggestions for the next meetings:
starting with a smile and message from the youngest participant, via several interventions from
other members, until two important decisions:
1 Concerning the next European Shin-Buddhist Conferences
We would like to suggest to IASBS, IABC and Hongwanji to organize the 16th European Shin-
Buddhist Conference (ESC16)
- period: Tuesday 24th - Friday 27th of August 2010;
- place: Romania (Craiova);
- organizing sangha: Tariki Dojo, Rev. Jōshō Adrian Cirlea;
- co-organizer (via e-mail): jikōji, Rev. Daijō Fons Martens;
- period: 2 clearly different conferences:
IASBS Tuesday 24th - Wednesday 25th of August 2010;
and European Shin sangha’s Thursday 26th - Friday 27th of August 2010;
- proposed topic: Tannishō.
We would like to suggest that the Polish sangha (unfortunately not present at this 15th conference -
we wish Myoshu the very best with recovering!) can take care of the 17th European Shin-Buddhist
Conference, taking place in 2012 - coinciding with 750 years Shinran Shōnin.
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2 Concerning the proposal of Hongwanji Governor Deguchi
Hongwanji Governor Deguchi made us a proposal for establishing a permanent representation in
Europe in the near future, probably consisting of a bureau and a representative from Hongwanji
in/near one of the existing European sangha’s.
We would like to answer “Yes, you are welcome!” to this proposal.
At 16h15 Thomas Moser made his concluding short speech: May peace and tranquility prevail
throughout the world: conclusion, thanking all participants for their energy, presentations and
contributions - all leading to this successful four day meeting of 62 participants from 12
nationalities. During the closing session at 16:45, Hoyu Ishida presented an address on behalf of
the IABC to express thankfulness to the organizing staff.
Thanks to the energy of several members of the German Jodoshinshu sangha and of the
management team of the Golden Tulip Hotel, we managed to let run the conference smoothly.
We also discovered that our team (Thomas, Kurt and Fons) was able to discuss about so many
different details and organize the ESC15, although we live one thousand kilometers from each other
- thanks to the regular contacts via internet. This test case proved it: we are ready for the next
conference!
Let us conclude this Report with some words from Serena Tanaka, More than the Nembutsu, in:
Wheel of Dharma, August 2008, p.5:
“I’m confident that the path to living the Dharma takes more than chanting the Nembutsu - it takes
initiative. (…) I too will work for that passion. (…) So stay open minded, for sometimes the answers to your
questions may come in strange packages.”
We will inform all European sangha’s, and send this report to Hongwanji, IASBS and IABC.
We will also inform Louella Matsunaga.
In the name of the ESC15-team - Antwerp, September 12th 2008.
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